KEVIN YOUNG, DIRECTOR
60822 Creek Road
Niles, MI 49120
269-684-3870
kevin60822@sbcglobal.net
JULY/AUGUST 2026 GRANGE NEWS
As I sit here on June 22nd writing this, we have been dealing with cooler than normal temperatures in June and plenty of rain and storms. Just about a week ago, I was out trying to get chores done before it started to storm and I got stuck in my garage for a short bit. It was raining very hard and then I started to hear something besides rain hitting the metal roof. It was pea-sized hail! I had just the chickens left to do, but I couldn’t get out of the garage to even get to the house. Just as I thought I could run for it, it started to hail again but this time it was quarter to golf ball sized hail!! It was so loud in that garage I covered my ears. Luckily, we had no damage from the hail. Just a few miles from here they had so much hail it covered the ground like it had snowed!!
Remember one class that anyone can enter is the class labeled: Any planting in a Unique container. It can be any type of container, but the planting must have grown in the unique container. Keep in mind that you must be able to transport this item to State Session and be able to bring it from your vehicle with little assistance.
Here is hoping your gardens are growing or will be and that your harvest is bountiful. Until the next MGN….
Wow it’s July!? The first 6 months of 2026 have gone by way too fast! I hope everyone that planted a garden kept in mind the Agriculture Department classes for the 2026 State Session. I really hope to have a good turnout in my Department again this year as there were a wonderful number of entries at the 2025 Session.
We are just a few short months now from our 2026 State Session that is being held in Three Rivers. It will be a great time celebrating yet again the 153rd year of the Michigan State Grange.
Fair season is here again. In just two short months the Berrien County Youth Fair will be coming to a close, as it ends on August 22nd. Please go support your local youth by attending a Fair near you. There are plenty of things to see besides the amusement rides and fair food if that isn’t something you care to do. I remember when I was an exhibitor how it felt to have everyone walk by looking at my animals or still exhibits. It is the youth exhibitors’ time to shine for all their hard work during the summer months (or winter too) leading up to entry day.
As I sit here on June 22nd writing this, we have been dealing with cooler than normal temperatures in June and plenty of rain and storms. Just about a week ago, I was out trying to get chores done before it started to storm and I got stuck in my garage for a short bit. It was raining very hard and then I started to hear something besides rain hitting the metal roof. It was pea-sized hail! I had just the chickens left to do, but I couldn’t get out of the garage to even get to the house. Just as I thought I could run for it, it started to hail again but this time it was quarter to golf ball sized hail!! It was so loud in that garage I covered my ears. Luckily, we had no damage from the hail. Just a few miles from here they had so much hail it covered the ground like it had snowed!!
Remember one class that anyone can enter is the class labeled: Any planting in a Unique container. It can be any type of container, but the planting must have grown in the unique container. Keep in mind that you must be able to transport this item to State Session and be able to bring it from your vehicle with little assistance.
Here is hoping your gardens are growing or will be and that your harvest is bountiful. Until the next MGN….
AGRICULTURE
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2026 GRANGE NEWS
As we move into the harvest season, please keep in mind that we will once again be sharing the roads with very large-sized farm equipment. I know we are all in a hurry to get where we are going but we need to keep in mind that those big pieces of equipment help to put food on our families’ tables.
Wow! August is half over as I write this article, and another County Fair season is just about over for my area. The weather is up and down with temperatures and humidity, along with plenty of rain, but it wouldn’t be summer and fair season without that type of weather! The Berrien County Youth Fair just started on Aug 16th with entry day, and we had rain throughout the morning hours and mid-day. We hope that we don’t have too much more rain during the week, as it will keep people from coming out to see what the youth of Berrien County have worked so hard on all summer long. There are only a few more fairs left in Michigan now with one of them being the St. Joseph County Grange Fair in Centreville and I believe the last one in Michigan being the Hillsdale County Fair.
We got our garden planted after Memorial Day weekend this year, planting zucchini, tomatoes, and butternut squash. It has been a very strange growing season for us this year. The zucchini all died but one hill and we haven’t had any squash from it yet. The butternut squash is trying to grow, but the plants are pretty thin for this time of the summer. I don’t expect anything from them. The tomato plants are trying their best and there are some green tomatoes. I just don’t think they will give us too many though. I think the garden plot is tired, and it is time to fertilize it or get some fresh topsoil from the farmer down the street. I hope others have had better luck and will have lots of items to enter in this year’s classes. If there is a class suggestion for the 2027 State Session that you would like to share with me, please do so. I am always up for making changes if it works with when our State Session is held.
As we move into the harvest season, please keep in mind that we will once again be sharing the roads with very large-sized farm equipment. I know we are all in a hurry to get where we are going but we need to keep in mind that those big pieces of equipment help to put food on our families’ tables.
I look forward to seeing everyone that will be coming to the Michigan State Grange Convention that is being held in mid-October down in Three Rivers. I hope everyone has been working on entries for the Departments, so we have a great Grange Contest year!
See you at State Session!!
